The Moon, the Wolf, and a Pond
by crimson nightmare
Summary: Hao, come here, let me slap you, and then I will tell you why you made Lyserg cry, yet again. Yaoi, HaoxLyserg
1. Chapter 1: The Moon

**A/N:** ... Well. I thought I wasn't going to write another fic anymore, but this things been bugging me ever since I first started reading Shaman King. Arghhhh Can't take it anymore. This is probably my weakness -- when I don't see a lot of fics about the pairings I like, I can't help but write one out of desperation :( I have found several awesome HaoxLyserg fics here, but ... wahhh T.T not enough flips table  
**Disclaimer:** Characters are from Shaman King. They do not belong to me.  
**Warning:** Yaoi (boyxboy), implied sexual content, AU, alcohol, dry humor  
**Spoilers:** Not much, just up to chapter 181 in the manga, and _after that it's all made up_.  
**Summary:** Hao, come here, let me slap you, and then I will tell you why you made Lyserg cry, yet again. (Warning: Yaoi, HaoxLyserg)  
**Because I listen to music when I write:** "Shrine Maiden Kikyou" from Inuyasha

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**'The Moon, the Wolf, and a Pond'**

**By Crimson Nightmare**

_"Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is." ---- German Proverb_

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**Chapter 1 - I'm confused, and nobody else is.**

**Lyserg POV**

I admit I have had a few drinks, but...

"SO! _Tell me, little Lyserg_..." he grabs my hair and pulls me close.

So close. So close that our noses are touching. His fingers thread through my hair and grips the strands so tightly that my scalp immediately feels hot, raw pain. His eyelashes casts dark and mysterious shadows on his cheeks. Looking, for all his villain glory, like a pretty baby with big black eyes, he grins at me. I can feel his breath, oozing with alcohol and a tint of cherry, breezing by my lips...

...And I slap him across the face and then turn to Yoh, "Your brother. He is drunk. Please contain him in a fire-proof box behind bars."

Yoh grins (a grin freakishly identical to his brother's) at me, sporting a red hand mark on his cheek (courtesy of Anna-san) as if it was something that he expects to be there at any time of the day. "Sorry Lyserg, this house is pretty old and I think it's all wood. I think you'll have to take him outside..."

"Me? Why do I have to take him outside? Why don't---"

"LYSERG DEAR! LET ME CONFESS MY UNDYING LOVE FOR---" Ryu's voice comes from inside the kitchen, causing both Yoh and I to look at each other and wince.

So I backed down.

"Fine. I'll take him outside. But if he murders me, you'll be responsible. Then I'll definitely come back and _tell Anna_ to punish you." I glare at him, seriously thinking about the ways that I would be able to come back and haunt him. Yoh pales, and grins at me again. Weakly, this time.

I'll let him off the hook. I drag the drunken twin brother outside to the back garden, and I wonder if I can push him into the pond since it's such a good opportunity. Of course, I do so after a few seconds of pondering.

This is the first time that I can remember, that Hao's presence does not throw me into a traumatic flashback. I refuse to say, outloud, that I am not scared stiff of Hao's presence, but I can't stop myself from feeling it. His presence throws me into shameful tremors. My legs grow weak, my hands ball into fists, and my breathes become as shallow as it was during that fire.

**_"You're so...tiny."_**

His voice makes the hairs on my neck stand. The fact that it is, to a certain degree, similar to Yoh's ever-so-comforting voice, scares me even more. I will never forget what he said. _Tiny._ Not just in age, body size, or power. No. He was talking about my _presence_. Like something that a dragon would look down and say to an ant. _You are so tiny,_ he says. _I can crush you without even knowing it, but I feel too lazy to even do so. I can hardly even notice you. You are so tiny._

_**"Where are my father and mother?"**_

The look in his eyes drains the blood from my face. Even now, I have trouble looking at him straight in the eye. Even after Yoh defeated him, even after I started living and working with everyone, including Hao, in this inn, I still can't look at him in the eye when I say good morning. His eyes are wide and dark and...so childlike. He scares me..._so much_...

_**But that moment...Just now...**_

I realize that, just now, I was not afraid of him at all, when I slapped him, or when I said he could murder me in the backyard. It's a rather delayed reaction, but right now, simply thinking back about what I said to Yoh, my heart starts to beat fast in realization and fear. Hao really can murder me right now, burn my corpse in the backyard, and nobody would notice in time to stop him. Yet, when I said this, I was not afraid. This realization makes my chest tighten, my throat dry, like all the other times when I'm thrown into an internal panic by Hao's presence.

How could I have not been afraid of him just now? _What happened_?

Am I getting used to his presence?

No way. Never. Ever. _**Never ever ever.**_

Forgive, but _never_ forget.

If I forget, my dead parents would never forgive me.  
If I forget, _I would never, ever, forgive myself._

* * *

Yet, for the second time, I find myself speaking fearlessly of him. This, is three weeks after. 

He stops in front of me, wearing only a pair of navy blue shorts, under the hot August sun.  
It's very bright. The sky is very blue. Blue does not become Hao. In my memories, he's always red and bright, like the fire of a star. And black, or charcoaled corpses of people. He looks at me, points at the basketball that hit my ankle just now, and then grins an easy grin. "**Sorry about that.**"

I nod back politely, but all I want to do at the moment is to back away slowly and then run away screaming. I'm not exaggerating, there was a moment just now that I thought I really am going to do such things. It's ridiculous. It's real. It's ridiculously real. This fear. This empty world with nothing but fear. In his presence, _everything else falls apart_, and I can't stand back up.

He bends down and reaches toward the basketball. His hair flows like the hair that of a doll. Black and silky. It slides along his back like water. Gentle, and beautiful. He holds the ball under an arm, and for a moment there I manage to look into his eyes. In my fear-paralized stance, I can only watch, speechless, as he raises his gaze to mine. He smiles, lightly.

"**Does it hurt?**"

Startled, I look down at the ankle in question. His fingertip brushes over the skin that has now developed a slight, pinkish bump. It is swollen, it hurts a little, and his fingertips feel like warm silk and blazing razers at the same time. I almost lose my ability to stand straight. I am terrified.

"No." Leave me alone. Leave me alone. Leave me alone, please...

I forget. He can naturally read minds. Because as soon as I thought those words, he looks up at me, his face a blank mask, and then he withdraws his fingers, putting them in his right pocket. I can't see his eyes anymore. He lowers his head as he stands back up. He smirks again.

"**Ah. That's good. Sorry again.**"

And when he turns to walk away, for some reason, I stop him.

Anybody would feel guilty after seeing that kind of display. Perhaps I have hurt his feelings, if they do exist at all. What to believe? Hao is an enigma of a thousand years old. It is idiotic to be paranoid all the time, but it is fatal to let one's guard down around a person named Hao.

But for this single moment, I am suddenly fearless. I reach out and put a hand on his shoulder.

I think this is the first time I've ever seen Hao being startled by anyone other than Yoh. His eyes widen a little as he looks back at me a little disbelievingly. As if it is impossible that I would ever initiate anything that has to do with him. And he would be right if he thinks this way, I always try to stay as far away from him as possible. Yet, I reached out, just now, and lightly touched a spot on the tip of his shoulder.

When he turns around, my sudden boost of courage vanishes.

"_**...It's okay.**_" I manage, and then I flee.

* * *

He kissed me this morning. 

I wonder where my courage has all gone. Fighting a nemesis doesn't seem like the hardest thing to do anymore. I used to think so, but now I question myself. I question that perhaps I'm having a harder time now living peacefully with my family's murderer. I question the fact that I seem to have currently dwindled down into a small jar of history scripts, in an ocean, fearing that if I ever let my guard down, my past would be erased by the salty waters of the ocean and tears.

I've changed. We've all changed to a certain degree. I'm not the fighter I was anymore. The fighting has passed.

_I did not win._

I don't consider myself the loser, but I am not the winner either. Hao's beliefs have been changed. A win. Hao is still alive. A lost. I have gotten past my limits during the fight. A self-win. I did not kill Hao. A self-lost. My world seems to have degraded down to eatting, drinking, living, breathing. Hao creates an occasional fear, but that's about all the ripples in my life nowadays.

Tonight I drink sake on the porch. This inn is old, but it has beautiful scenery. My feet are bare against the old, rough surface of the flooring. The moon's reflection on the pond is bright and pale. It ripples every once in a while, and I feel a blank, steady anger towards it.

I throw my half empty cup of sake at the reflection of the moon, creating a small splash. The moon distorts, and then falls back into place.

Then I jump into the pond, creating a much larger splash. My white yukata is drenched. The moon is destroyed.

The water only reaches my chest. I can't even drown myself in this place. I raise my head, and see that the moon is still up in the sky.

_I did not win._

"**You can jump and drown yourself for all you like, but you don't really have to try to drown me as well while you're at it.**" An drily amused voice came from the porche behind me.

I know this voice. Of course I do. My world seems to revolve around the ripples he creates. I know the feeling of this presence. Every time he appears, my world crumbles. I turn around and my mind draws a blank at the sight in front of me.

"Geeze, I think you're drunk. Well, serves you right for doing the same to me last time." Hao brushes the black strands of wet hair from his face. They fall on his shoulders like black snakes crawling under the moonlight. His hands fascinate me. They thread through his silky strands, and then they push the black, wet yukata off of his shoulders. I shiver in the pond.

He looks at me, and laughs. "**Are you just going to stay in there?** You'll have only turtles as feeding buddies. Come out of there, ahou, you'll catch a cold.(1)"

I don't move.

He bends and catches both of my hands. He pulls me on shore. And then he kisses me for a second time today. This kiss is nothing like the small good morning prank kiss his he gave me this morning. His arm is around my waist; his other hand gripping the back of my head, pushing me against him. My lips feel like ice compared to his.

He pushes my wet yukata off of my shoulders for me. And I hate him for it, because in a flash, I find that he has already successfully taken me to his bed.

_What's happening?_

_What's happening?_

_Stop it. Stop it stop it **stop it.**_

In bed, his eyes burn like white lightning. He is _laughing_. He is _playing_ with me. I _knew_ it. If I let my guard down just for one moment...

**_He would win._**

* * *

_**To be continued...** _

_"One of the things which danger does to you after a time is -, well, to kill emotion. I don't think I shall ever feel anything again except fear. None of us can hate anymore - or love." ---- Graham Greene - The Confidential Agent (1939)_

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**A/N:** Coming up next chapter, in Hao's POV. Yoh makes an appearance as well. I have finished writing this fic. There are three chapters in it. With a possible epilogue, but I'll decide that later. I'd love to hear what you think. (Ah. a-actually it's just because I just wanna promote some HaoxLyserg writing...(is ashamed and runs away)) This is not beta-ed, therefore I know there are grammar mistakes. If there's any nice passersby who are willing to beta, please leave a review and contact info :) 

I write a lot of things that seem choppy, without chronicle order, and random. I like to reflect every little I write back to somethings I had written earlier. You must have a lot of patience and a bit of weird logic to understand. Too bad I'm not good enough to make my writings any easier to understand. I wish to improve though.

**Note:** (1) Ahou: Idiot


	2. Chapter 2: The Wolf

**A/N**: Etto--- (Is whacked in the face by self) Me sorry I updated so late, when I said I would on August 5th.  
Thanks biggiez to all readers and reviewers! The replies are at the end, below the chapter!  
Also, repeat after me. THANKS KIGEN. Good. She's my beta, who writes bedtime stories for me. Isn't she awesome? X3!  
**Disclaimer**: Characters are from Shaman King. They do not belong to me.  
**Warning**: Yaoi (boyxboy), implied sexual content, AU, angst of some sort, dry humor  
**Spoilers**: Not much, just the parts about Lyserg's past and Hao's personality overall.**  
Summary**: Hao, come here, let me slap you, and then I will tell you why you made Lyserg cry, yet again. (Warning: Yaoi, HaoxLyserg)  
**Because I listen to music when I write**: Kikyou no Kokoro, Inu Yasha 3rd OST - Sotsugyou Sayonara Ha Asita No Tame

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'**The Moon, the Wolf, and a Pond**'

**By Crimson Nightmare  
**

_"Are you ready to cut off your head and place your foot on it? If so, come; Love awaits you! Love is not grown in a garden, nor sold in the marketplace; whether you are a king or a servant, the price is your head, and nothing less. Yes, the cost of the elixir of love is your head! Do you hesitate? 0 miser, It is cheap at that price!"  
-Abu Hamid Al-Ghazzali_

**--- **

**Chapter 2: Hao is confused, and no one else is.**

**Hao POV **

I find Lyserg gone from my side when I wake up.

I have had many lovers. Beautiful ones, exciting ones, charismatic ones, cute ones, female, male, enemies, and allies. I always fall in love. I fall in love with beauty, with power, and with intelligence. _I love life, therefore I love enjoying the beautiful things in life_.

I never stay in love, however. _My love has always been a tornado_. It passes as quickly as it comes. I fall in love with a scenario. A romantic scene. I fall in love with the main character in this romantic scene. And yet as soon as the romantic scene passes, I lose my purpose of staying with its main character.

_I know about mankind._ I have stayed in this world long enough to understand it. Beautiful women become insecure once they realize that they can age. Challenging partners are afraid to show their tender moments, for fear of being seen as how soft they truly are on the inside. Charismatic lovers become defensive once they realize too late that I have changed what they were. Loyal partners regret giving themselves to me once they find that I have no intention of staying with them.

_I play with these people._ I admire their beauty, abilities, power; I kiss them and whisper dark, amorous words in their ears. I touch their skin and laugh with them. I make them happy; I make them sad. Then when I feel it is time to move on, I am gone.

I'm not particularly sadistic, or heartless. I just had an agenda to follow. I thought that if I were to make the world that is perfect, I couldn't dwell on small moments of pleasure like these. I thought that I was made for a bigger plan, so I couldn't settle down. I thought, with all of my mind, my heart, my soul, that my fate was to change the world.

**Yet, when I thought there was finally no one stronger than me, I was beaten.**

**When I thought there could be no more changes to my plans, I was mistaken.**

**_Fate was not what I predicted it to be._**

Now, I come back to look at myself as I've never had to in the past thousand years.

_Who am I?_

_Why am I here?_

_When will I find my true path?_

_Where is my destination?_

_How do I get there?_

_What am I supposed to be doing?_

All of the sudden, I am lost. I find myself in an old inn where Yoh, Anna, Ryu, Faust VIII and Lyserg live with me. I do chores. clean the bathtub, clean the backyard, stairways, and the small spot under the sakura tree.

All of the sudden, _I don't know what I want_. I read. I play children's games. Basketball is one of my favourites. I sing. I steal some of Yoh's CDs, then give them back when Anna slaps me and sends me flying across the whole inn. I burn some leaves in my room, and I get punished with no dinner because the fire alarm went off.

I wonder what I am here for. I wonder why I'm lucky enough to be alive.

---

Last night, _once again I fell in love with romance_. I fell in love with the scene of Lyserg by the small pond. He looked beautiful, all lost and angry under the moonlight. His bright green eyes made me think of woods fairies and fireflies. **And suddenly I wanted his eyes.**

I wonder how long this romance will last.

I watched him moan beneath me. I listened to him _scream_ under my touch. I watched his face carefully for all the emotions that I haven't seen him display for a long time now.

He made the cutest little noises when I pushed against him. In bed, his kittenish looks become more vulnerable than ever. _I loved it._

The little child really didn't know _what _to do with himself after the Shaman fight. He became like a blind kitten; seeking warmth anywhere he could find. He does not see where he is going. Not anymore.

I can see it in his mind. All along, he has been trying to find _parents_. Even during the Shaman fight, he involuntarily leant towards people who seem to be safer, more comforting, less unpredictable, and **_more like his father_**.

I have seen his parents. Of course I have seen them. Killing them was merely another step toward gathering allies and destroying opposing forces. I don't really remember Lyserg's parents' faces, but I can see their faces in his mind. _Their faces are constantly turning into _**_charcoal_ **in Lyserg's mind. Every time I manage to see into his mind, I see fire and tears. People _dying_ of the fire; vision _blurred_ by the tears.

It's sad, but I don't feel entirely ashamed to be responsible for such deeds. Truth can be sad. Yet truth is still truth. A dream, a path, a maker, and a destroyer. Sadness is just one of the expressions of life.

I had a reason. A sad, wrong reason. With this sad, wrong reason, _I made things come true_. **Terrible, powerful, great, and sad things.**

_Emotional _things.

**_Humane_** things.

In the end, we are all still just humans. Once we jump into the whirl pool that is hatred, we never know how to find our way back out.

Lyserg became like that; for the hate of me.

I became like that; for the hate of mankind.

---

I wonder why I like Lyserg at all. He is beautiful, but not the most beautiful of all the lovers I have had in the past. Nor is he as powerful, as intelligent, or exciting as some whom I have had. _He just...seems to be here at the right time, right place._ It almost seems like I fell in love with his eyes because _at that moment, I was starting to think that I would become afraid of the dark. And at that moment; his eyes, **they glowed**._

And now, the sun rises. I watch the sky and yawn happily. The world is beautiful when I don't look down and see humans destroying the face of the earth.

Then I hear Yoh's voice. I see Lyserg in Yoh's arms.

"What's wrong, Lyserg? Did something happen?" Yoh has a kind face. Though we look the same structurally, there's just something about my brother that makes people relax and lean on his shoulder.

"Here, Lyserg, sit here. Tell me what's wrong?" Yoh pulls Lyserg against his chest, and whispers in his ear.

For some reasons, I feel like there's something wrong with this picture. Lyserg is crying. He makes no sounds, but I can see Yoh's shirt becoming wet where Lyserg buries his face.

"Thanks...Yoh." Lyserg seems to have stopped crying. He simply gazes into a blank space in front of him, as he hides in the warmth of Yoh's embrace. "I feel better now."

Yoh smiles gently, "I'm glad. Crying is good for you sometimes. But talking about it is probably even better, Lyserg." Lyserg looks up at him. His eyes almost glowed with gratefulness.

I'm not very happy. I don't think I've ever felt this way when I see my lovers with someone else before. Lyserg looks to Yoh's comfort almost as a child would to its father. I know that. So why am I perturbed? I wonder if it's because it's my brother I'm looking at right now.

Lyserg gives my brother a weak smile, and shakes his head. "Don't worry about this, Yoh. I just wanted to let my feeling out. Now that I have cried, I'm much better." He stands up, and smiles brightly at Yoh. "Breakfast should be ready by now, ne?"

I watch them leave, and I resist the urge to read Lyserg's mind. I wonder why was he crying? I did not mistreat him. I am pleasant to all my lovers. I don't think I scared him. I was gentle, though passionate as well, last night. Knowing that emotional child, he's probably hating himself for bedding the murderer of his parents.

Hmm. _How typical._ I wonder if he'll ever get over that in this lifetime.

---

I feed the fish in the pond, thinking that they were probably scared to death when Lyserg jumped into the pond. I chuckle at the memory. Lyserg has funny mind processes sometimes.

A koi fish floats up to me and eyes me wearily; as if I would jump into the pond like the last human who did. I gently smile at it, and put the tip of my finger on the surface of the pond. Fish are cowardly creatures. They are practically harmless. The only thing they can do is run away._ Hide._ A shadow, a movement, a ripple, they all hide from them.

I coax the koi fish to nibble at my finger once, before it realizes that my finger is not food. It quickly hides back deep down the pond.

"_Hao._"

"...Lyserg." I turn. This must be the second time this boy has startled me. I smile at him, "I think that's the first time I've heard you say my name so calmly."

His thin brows crease for a moment, but surprises me again with a brighter smile. "_I think,_" he says, "_I think, that I'm getting over it._"

I was silent for a moment.

Heh. As I thought. "Hm...You're quite full of surprises aren't you, Lyserg?"

When I think that he is at his weakest moment, ready to fail, he comes back and tells me that he's over it. When he seems to be exploited by me the most in his life, he comes back smiling, choosing me to be the first person to whom he declares his decision.

_What to do with you, Lyserg? I usually like pleasant surprises; but at the lowest, most lost moments of my life, for the first time, I'm not sure if I'm strong enough to take surprises._

**_I might actually get attached..._**

He chuckles softly, and sits down beside me. "...We both seem to be quite attached to this pond, huh?"

I glance at him a bit warily, "Ah. Who knew our resident cherub would take advantage of a poor drunk and play a prank on him?"

"Hehehe...Well, it was a lot of fun seeing you realise five seconds too late that you were under water. "

"Pfft... As if that alone can stop Hao-sama." I raise a seemingly stern eyebrow, but can't stop the small devious grin on my lips.

We sat for a while in, surprisingly, friendly silence. It was comfortable, I discovered, to sit in friendly silences. It feels different from the past. My shoulders feel lighter, I don't feel the growing frustration that built within me when I saw how many foolish enemies were preparing their best weapons to assasinate me. I don't think about the humans that are destroying the world with their version of intelligence. _I don't think, I don't feel._ I just _relax_ in a harmless person's presence. I look up at the stars, _and for the first time in a long, long while, they were not as blazingly bright as they've always been. Dim twilight seems...wonderfully gentle._

"Lyserg?" I look at his reflection. His eyes are amazing. In the dark, smooth pond, I can even see the reflection of his eyes' warm green glow.

"..._what?_" he whispers, or perhaps it was just a breeze.

I lost my words.

My thoughts left my lips, yet the air becomes so **thick, painful, and shocking** that the sounds were _beaten_ back into the ground. I realize suddenly _and perhaps all along_, that I wasn't _just_ in love with him. _I realize that..._

My lips connected with his soft, cool ones. He has surprisingly low body temperature compared to mine. He seems to cool me down when I am frantic. I lose myself in the moment, and reach over. I grab his frail shoulders as I kissed his mouth. His whole person is soft. His palms softly push against my chest and his breath tickles my lower lip as we part for breath.

**_I realize that I..._**

This time, I flee.

---

**_To be continued..._**

_End Quote: "We need others. We need others to love and we need to be loved by them. There is no doubt that without it, we too, like the infant left alone, would cease to grow, cease to develop, choose madness and even death." Leo F. Buscaglia_

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**A/N**: This is just my own interpretation of Hao. This end quote will be reflected back to in the last chapter's quotes. Also, this fic doesn't have much of a spoiler needed, but it would be nice if you have read Mappa Douji, the tale of how Hao came to be in his very first life.)  
The formatting of this site has sucked even more. Its 'insert line' feature doesn't work for some reason. Goodness, the one thing I actually wanted from the current formatting...

**Because you were nice enough to review :)**

**SweetsorrowthroughEternity:** Thank you! I'm glad someone likes my weirdo mumbly style :D Here's the update, late, but updated :P  
**German-Shaman-Kaint **- Yay a fan! XD" I'm flattered thank you. Don't worry about English, I have difficulties with grammar loads of times :P  
**Leuv** - I love HaoxLyserg lotz and lotz too :3 And thanks for chasing after me to make me update. I am a bad author, in the updating sense :P  
**Novalight **- Hehe, I'm glad :D It's great know people actually see the points I'm trying to make!  
**Whisper Angel **- Thank you! Yes! I'm glad you feel what I've tried to convey! Hope this chapter was as potent for ya :3

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	3. Chapter 3: The Pond

**A/N**: Again, THANKS KIGEN WITH MUCH LOVE! And also a big thanks to the people who read this and/or reviewed. The review replies are at the bottom of the chapter. This is, again, a slow update. I am a slow ass. And lazy. And dead tired from school. And maybe I'm just procrastinating. Just maybe.  
**Disclaimer**: Characters are from Shaman King. They do not belong to me.  
**Warning**: Yaoi (boyxboy), implied sexual content, AU, angst of some sort, dry humor  
**Spoilers**: Not much, just the parts about Lyserg's past and Hao's personality overall.**  
Summary**: Hao, come here, let me slap you, and then I will tell you why you made Lyserg cry, yet again. (Warning: Yaoi, HaoxLyserg)  
**Because I listen to music when I write**: Joe Hisaishi - A Summer's Day ; Inuyasha - Fukai Mori ; Theme music from Lemony Snicket's ASOUE

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'**The Moon, the Wolf, and a Pond**'

**By Crimson Nightmare  
**

_"Sometimes I'm confused by what I think is really obvious. But what I think is really obvious obviously isn't obvious..." Michael Stipe_

---

**Chapter 3 - Confused Hao and Lyserg, not confused everybody else**

**Lyserg POV**

I awake with a gasp, tearing my consciousness away from images of deep water, bleeding moonlight, and black, flowing hair. A few moments later I realize why I discerned the water from my dreams to be sea water - I was tasting my own tears.

I leave the bed for a shower, more than ready to peel off my sweat-drenched t-shirt and shorts.

_It is dawn._

Dawn is a colorful time. The sun crawls out from behind the black shadows of mountain tops, and with its appearance, red, gold, and a phantom touch of purple are unleashed by it. I paint a sky in my dreams, yet it always turns back into night. It starts out with a few strands of long, black hair. After that, _a blinding fire would burn my painting; and then we drown. We drown in a pond of moonlight that tastes like sea water._

I wipe furiously at my eyes as hot, nearly scorching water drenches my hair. I repeat to myself, that if I stay awake, it would be dawn soon. Then, I would be able to witness how dawn overcomes the night, and advances into midday, where the sun shines brightly, and Yoh would spit out his coffee when he realizes he's fallen asleep during training yet again.

Yoh is like the sun. I can hardly sever the connection between a warm, happy day and his big, goofy smile.

**_It's going to be alright._**

"Ohayo, Yoh." He stumbles out of his (and Anna-san's) bedroom, rubbing his eyes sleepily. I greet him as I come out of my morning shower.

"N-mya? Ah, ohayo, Lyserg!" he chirps sleepily with a big grin, and then turns to enter the bathroom before he smashes into the wall in front of his face.

I had pulled on a pair of black shorts and pick out a white collared shirt, and was happily energetic and ready to embrace the brand new day. Just then, my seemingly warm dawn turns into night again.

Hao sits outside my window, humming a song. He stares up at the sky, and blows a small ball of burning leaves toward the coming of dawn.

**Hao POV**

I thought I am beginning to hate reading Lyserg's mind every time I am near his presence.

The things I see. _Destruction. Corpses. The sounds. Screaming. Crying. The taste. Tears. Blood. The hell-depth feeling of **utter helplessness**._ I abhor it. Yet I come back, every other night, to satisfy my curiosity. I find my younger-self in his dreams every time, terrorizing his world over and again.

I can't help but wonder. _Was I really that horrifying? Will I always scare him like that in his dreams, even though he told me he is getting over it?_

I hate reading his mind. _I hate it._ But the person I end up hating is not Lyserg.

He greets my brother with a small, delighted smile. And I hear his mind speaking, softly, of the sun, a warm day, and Yoh's comforting smile.

_The person I end up hating is not Lyserg. It **never** is Lyserg._

The person who makes Lyserg cry every night is not Lyserg after all. _**Never just Lyserg**._

"Why are you burning the leaves when you did not rake them into a pile? If you end up burning the inn, you will have to be my slave for an eternity, Hao."

I smile, blowing out the fire on the end of my fingertip. Leaves all around me burn to ashes before they land on the old, cracked cement ground. "Anna-san. What a pleasant surprise."

"Ah." the little girl holds herself up like a respectable queen. I like her. I've always had a crush on her. The way she slaps me reminds me of my mother from my very first lifetime. It always makes me laugh.

"You are reading into other people's dreams again, Hao. Have you no respect for privacy?" Anna comments with little emotion, and watches me play with fallen leaves boredly.

"You should know why I read his dreams, Anna-san." I idly make a twig crack open with a touch of flames, and watch, smiling with a sigh, as the twig turns into charcoal; the charcoal breaks into ashes. "You can read minds as well, little girl. You know what I'm talking about." **(1)**

To my surprise, she didn't bristle this time, like she usually does when I call her a little girl. I watch with amusement as she crosses her arms to endure my obvious jests. "Hm. That also happens to mean that I know what you are thinking right now, Hao. And since you are thinking what you are thinking, **you are an idiot**. I can't believe you are almost a thousand years older than me."

"Ah." I laugh heartily, "I think I see a slap coming."

"...Tch. Old man..._Come here. Let me slap you, and then I will tell you why've you made Lyserg cry, yet again._" she says.

---

**Lyserg POV**

I am slowly beginning to understand, why I still dream what I dream, when I thought I had taken the opposite step to get over it.

"Lyserg? Lyserg Diethel? It's you, really you, isn't it!" A passerby points at me angrily. _Do I know these people? Hmm, I can't seem to recall ever meeting them._

"You ARE that bastard! Hey, hey don't look as if you're not surprised it's me! You think I'm afraid of you? You think I'm afraid of you, don't you, you little bastard!" I watch, confused, as the man turn to his companions. _Have I seen him before?_ "Well, now, you'll get to see the powers we have!"

_Ah, they're Shamans, I think. Maybe I beat them before in the Shaman fight._

"Hey, hey are you listening to me, you arrogant jerk? I will crush you! Guys, attack!"

_Hmm, good, come._

_Because I'm in a bad mood right now. I need the exercise._

I smile.

**Hao POV**

Anna has a way of telling you that she thinks it's good for you if you eat that vegetable soup, by telling you out loud that the vegetable soup that you cooked for her stinked, and that she would be punishing you by making you eat the vegetable soup yourself.

"Yoh," she slaps me and says, "is my husband. Do not go around thinking that he might be as insatiable as you." she glares at me mildly with disinterest, and crosses her arms again. "You, Hao, are a cynical old man acting like a spoiled child with too much money in your hands. Yoh's an old man that acts exactly like a normal old man. Those are completely different things."

Eh, is...is that so... **(2)**

I watch as she turns to leave, "Oh, and I think you misunderstood your whimpering little puppy."

_Mine, huh..._

"Don't be stupid anymore, Hao. It'll ruin the Asakura family's name."

She leaves, and I start laughing. _Heh, such a round-about way to tell me to stop being jealous of Yoh's ability to give Lyserg comfort._

I look up at the sky again, and I smile with a small sigh escaping my lips. _Wow...I really am a guilty old man, am I not?_

_...Well, Lyserg...Whatever shall an old man like me do with you?_ **(3)**

---

By the time Hao found Lyserg, Hao had already window-shopped the entire local city hall, taken a picture with a pair of newlyweds that he passed by, petted a white kitten, and was by now eating an ice cream cone with great enthusiasm. He strolled toward the local park. In there he found a pile of unconscious shamans and a rather large oversoul fight going on between Lyserg and a little girl with pale freckles and two blonde curly pigtails.

"BWAHAHAHA! You will be caught, by ME!" the little girl yelled over-dramatically with a high-pitched baby squeak, waving a yellow toy shovel in her tiny hand, "Watch, the power of my oversoul --- Grande Hell Asphalt!"

_...Asphalt? As in, the black, gooey substance that modern humans pad the road with?_

And he was right. Lyserg, never being particularly powerful in the defensive side, was very quickly trapped in, behold, a live, moving goo of black asphalt. Lyserg struggled, but the more he moved, the thicker the asphalt became. It wrapped around his arms, legs, waist, and neck, holding him in the midair up straight, as the little girl glowed in her progressing victory and pride.

"Ugh, this stuff smells...I'm telling you --- hey stop laughing like a maniac and listen --- the Shaman fight is over! Why don't you believe me? Do I look like someone who would lie to you?"

"You LIE! Nee-san said---"

"Your nee-san is a bimb--I mean, she is wrong!" Lyserg gritted out between his teeth, having reached the limit of his patience, like anyone would after spending an entire hour explaining one, single point.

"Did you just say my nee-san is a bimbo!"

"Uh, I mean, you guys just didn't see the star because you live underground with the Dwarves! You can't blame me for that!"

"You just said nee-san is a bimbo, didn't you?"

"I---"

"GRANDE HELL'S ASPHALT, STICK HIM ONTO THE FLAT PAVEMENT---"

"..."

And just when the fight reached climax, Hao finished the first scoop of vanilla ice-cream on his cone, and wiped his hands on a napkin. "Wow," he clapped his hands cheerfully, "Such a cool oversoul!"

"---AND LET HIM BECOME ROADKILL---o-oh, what did you say about my oversoul?"

"Hao-sama said it's very cool." Hao beamed.

And so the little girl decided that when she grew up, when she became just as tall as nee-san, she was going to marry this gorgeous prince with the melting vanilla ice-cream cone in his hand. **(4)**

"Hey, you want some ice-cream? I only finished the first half!" Hao chirped cheerfully at the little girl, holding out his remaining scoop of vanilla ice-cream. And the little girl quickly swipped the cone from his hand and ran away, red in the face. (She also screamed something like obtaining Hao-sama's indirect kiss was better than becoming the Shaman King)

"Ah, hi there, Lyserg." Hao beamed again, looking up at the boy trapped in the remaining asphalt that had solidified by now. Hao licked his lips with a mischievous look on his face, and cocked his head, "You know, I can look up your shorts from this angle..."

"**DIE, YOU PEDOPHILE.**"

"Ahaha, just kidding, I was going to ask you if you want me to get you out of there but...Ah well! I guess you don't want this pedophile to help you out. I'll just be leaving then..." he turned and made to leave.

"HAO! Ugh, but how would you get me out? This thing is rock hard, and if you melt it, I'll be barbequed in the process!" Lyserg glared down at the Shaman on the ground.

"Hmm? Oh, but that's a secret, Lyserg-kun. Would you give me a kiss for this secret? Come on, you don't have to be shy, I've taken a **lot** more than just a kiss from you, remember?" Hao grinned a sickly sweet grin as his Fire Spirit lifted him high enough to talk to Lyserg face to face.

"...Just..." Utterly defeated by the Shaman's antics, Lyserg slumped back against the solid asphalt. "Just get me out."

"Uh-uh, I told you, a kiss."

"..."

"I didn't hear you, speak louder, young man."

"I...I g-give, dammit!" Lyserg stammered, blushing furiously (_Or he could just be royally pissed at me_, thought Hao). "Just...get me out of here first!"

Hao laughed, leaning close, "Ah. See? That wasn't too hard, was it?" Lyserg growled. "Hehe, just watch and learn, kid." Hao grinned as he leaned back against the Fire Spirit's palm, raising his hands, "Fire Spirit! **Hisaki no Shiroi**!"

"Wha-" Lyserg didn't even have time to protest. He could only widen his eyes.

There was a blinding white flash all around him.

_He never could remember exactly what happened after he saw the faces of his parents turn into charcoal. And now he knew. He felt it._

**_The world was on fire._**

---

_**To be continued...  
**_

_Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac? - George Carlin_

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**A/N:** This chapter is very different from the first two chapters of this fic. The first two were introspection, and really, after all that inner turmoil, something external should have happened by this time. Or it could just be me, who can't stand angst long enough to worth anything.

**(1)** - Yes, I'm well aware that Anna in the actual manga lost the ability to read minds after Yoh defeated her Onni. I'm keeping this ability here, because it's a fanfic and in a fanfic the author's omnipowerful.  
**(2)** - Anna's logic in this fic is not all that easy to follow. If you are not me, I'd be surprised that you understand what she was getting at. Actually, by this time, I realized that she had very little to say that was not said in the first two chapters. But _someone _had to say _something_ to Hao, or he'd be in denial (_or stupidity, in Anna-world_) forever. And I mean _forever_, as in the many many life times of Hao's, since he's capable of it.  
**(3)** - That sounds wrong. So wrong.  
** (4)** - How Lyserg defended his man in that particular period of time in the future is another story. YOU write it. Go.

**Because you were nice enough to review :)**

**Kigen** - Squeals and tackles and snuggles with ya! Hehe, thanks, glad you like it, my awesome beta!  
**Leuv** - Thank you! I'm glad you like the pairing as much as I do. I love the quotes too. It's a personal habit for me to collect quotes from everywhere.  
**Tennisstar1** - Thanks! Although this chapter had not much of any deep content in it... Hehe  
**FantasyFanatic1** - Yay that means I've introduced you to a new pairing! Since that was my intent, to advertise the HaoLyserg pairing, I am so happy that you've stumbled upon this pairing! Thanks for the comment. I hope this chapter wasn't too much of a disappointment!  
**TiffanyLye** - Thanks for the fav and the comment! I love HaoLyserg as well. I wish there was more of it here on this site.

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